The old gang is back together for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford reprising their roles, but now we’re learning just how close we were to not getting one of them in the movie.
For Hamill and Fisher, it might have been as simple as getting a great script that honored their beloved characters. But for Ford, it was always going to be harder. The legendary actor has a somewhat complicated relationship with the franchise. Luckily, J.J. Abrams had a foolproof plan to get him on board: Just convince him that he could be replaced by someone younger and possibly even hipper.
And while Stephen Colbert was definitely ruled out to play an older Han Solo, there’s nothing stopping him from auditioning for that young Han Solo movie.
Screengrab via The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/YouTube